Energy Catalyst at Sankalp Africa Summit 2026

Supporting infrastructure-scale climate innovation

Energy Catalyst was pleased to support a strong delegation of portfolio innovators at Sankalp Africa Summit 2026 in Nairobi, aligned with this year’s theme, South–South Rising.

Across two days of panels, roundtables and investor engagement, our cohort represented a broad spectrum of commercially viable clean energy solutions — including solar-powered agro-processing, PAYG electric cooking, biomass gasification for agro-industrial decarbonisation, cold chain logistics, mini-grids, second-life battery systems and community-centred development models.

The tone of discussions throughout the summit was firmly grounded in scale.

From innovation to infrastructure

Across the sessions attended, particularly those focused on e-mobility financing, clean cooking and carbon markets, and the broader transition from aid to investable Africa, conversations reflected a clear shift in emphasis.

Technology progress is evident across sectors. However, scaling these innovations requires stronger capital structuring, policy consistency, interoperability and durable revenue models. The dialogue has moved beyond proof of concept toward infrastructure readiness and long-term viability.

Discussions on e-mobility highlighted that while technology costs continue to improve, early-stage capital and enabling infrastructure (charging, swapping and grid stability) remain critical bottlenecks. In clean cooking, carbon markets were acknowledged as both an opportunity and a vulnerability, particularly in light of regulatory approvals and methodological complexity. Meanwhile, broader capital discussions emphasised the need for coordinated domestic and blended finance mechanisms to unlock scale.

This signals a maturing entrepreneurship ecosystem. Business models are becoming more data-driven and replication-focused. Unit economics are being interrogated earlier. Investors are asking sharper questions about bankability and risk allocation.

Key themes relevant to Energy Catalyst

Three themes emerged as particularly aligned with Energy Catalyst’s mission:

• Infrastructure over experimentation: Stakeholders are prioritising solutions that can be deployed and replicated across markets with comparable demand and regulatory realities.
• Specialised climate capital is emerging: Investors are increasingly targeting specific segments of value chains such as charging infrastructure, storage integration and carbon aggregation, reshaping how climate enterprises position themselves.
• South–South collaboration in practice: The “South–South Rising” narrative was reflected in practical exchanges across emerging markets. Shared structural realities are accelerating peer learning and cross-regional model adaptation.

Challenges acknowledged, progress evident

Capital constraints, uneven policy signals, grid instability and carbon market volatility remain material challenges. These were openly recognised across discussions.

At the same time, the sophistication of entrepreneurs, the depth of investor dialogue and the growing emphasis on infrastructure readiness point to a more resilient ecosystem.

Energy Catalyst’s role

Funded by the UK government under the Ayrton Fund, Energy Catalyst supports early-stage clean energy innovation through a combination of grant funding and structured commercialisation support delivered via the Energy Catalyst Accelerator Programme (ECAP).

At Sankalp, the programme focused on:

• Supporting portfolio companies in engaging impact investors and strategic partners.
• Expanding connections with capital providers aligned with commercially viable energy access and climate infrastructure.
• Contributing to ecosystem dialogue on scaling clean energy enterprises.

Sankalp Africa Summit 2026 reinforced an important conclusion: Africa’s clean energy ecosystem is not short of innovation — it is strengthening the foundations for infrastructure-scale deployment.

Energy Catalyst remains committed to de-risking early innovation and accelerating the transition from pilot to bankable, scalable solutions.